AUNT HANNA--ANE JOHANNE JENSEN

AUNT HANNA

Eugene Halverson

Peter Boel      Aunt Hanna

There is some good in the worst of us and a little bad in the best of us.  I do look for these in my stories I write.  I had a lot of nasty things to say about Aunt Hanna, and it did feel as if she was watching my every move.  Was she there??  My computer crashed.  So, I bought another one and it crashed. I did hang a picture of her mother-in-law Aunt Hanner over my computer before she left me alone.  Aunt Hanna was a polygamist wife of Peter Boel who was my Great Grandfather, whose sur name was Christensen but preferred Boel, Anni Dankjaer said, “Boel is simply the name of a middle size farm. Sometimes it was also spelled Bol”.  His mother, Ane Marie Poulsdatter 78 years old.  Said it was time to go to America to find her daughter, Christiana who lived in Utah.  Those that were able left Denmark on the Nevada in the summer of 1878 and arrived in Pleasant Grove hat fall.  Christian Peter Christensen, age 35, Ane Johanne Jensen 26 a maid and Andreas Anderson a servant, and five children Kirstine 13, Christen 10, Soren Peter 9, Jens 7, Elsine 6.

Niels and Pierre where to young and sickly to go so Little Grandma, Mary, my grandmother had to stay in Denmark a couple of years longer.  Even so Niels died a week or so after arriving.    

Little Grandma   Peter Boel

It seems the Bishop noticed this very attractive single young lady in the house. He told Peter they had to marry and I’m sure this suited them just fine.  Back then during polygamy days a man could have as many wives as he could take care of.  Aunt Hanna had lost one child and was pregnant with another when Little Grandma showed up on the door-step.  She was completely unaware that her husband had married her maid, Hanna.  Little Grandma could plainly see that Hanna was about to have a baby.   Hanna said, "You are the second wife now, you gave up your place in Denmark."  Little Grandma hurt and disgusted told her, "You can have him and good riddance." 

A picture in the Springville Book Little Grandma is listed as the second wife.

Well Aunt Hanna did have her man but still everything began to fall apart.  She lived with a family that did not like her.  Her first baby died at birth.  Then she had a little girl named Ane Melvina.  (I have a large picture of her in my house).  She a pretty little thing with blond hair and frilly white dress.  She looks at me with such a sad expression.  A story is told of a group of children who started to talk about what they were going to be when they grew up.  After each child told what they were going to be they asked Ane Melvina, what she was going to be? She stated, “I am going to die tomorrow." and that’s what she did.

Ane Melvina Boel

Life was hard and she was resented, she was never called mother or grandmother just "Aunt Hanner".  Time never seemed to heal the hurt.  Resentment and hatred ran deep.  Aunt Hanna was despised by all of Christian and Maren's children and their spouses.  Aunt Hanna never backed down from a fight and held her own.  Hanna is English, in Danish the J has no sound and “r” is the rolling of r’s.

Aunt Hanna was a very good cook and housekeeper and managed to "rule the roost" as well as cater to Christian's every whim.  Christian and Hanna did get along quite well and they did love each other.  Hanna spoke English very well, something that Grandpa and Little Grandma never could accomplish.  They did learn the language but had a strong accent and some words were very hard for them to pronounce.  Aunt Mary said, “What a rascal he was, between the English and the Danish mixed, he was a scream."  Aunt Mary also said, “Grandpa Boel would shear sheep in the spring.  He said Hanner could shear as many sheep as he could." 

Aunt Hanna resented the way she was shunned and humiliated.  They were also afraid of her they had seen some of the spells that Aunt Hanna cast.   In America Andrea’s was no longer a servant.  He had to be paid wages so he bought a fancy brass bed with a real mattress.  Well, he bragged once too often about how wonderful it was.  Hanna took her book out and cast a spell on it, he could never sleep on it again.  If he tried he always fell out of it, so he slept on the floor next to it.  Even the neighbors were afraid of her.  A spell on the neighbor’s cow made it go dry and it never gave milk again. 

My Aunt Mary Halverson Bowen didn't like her at all.  Aunt Hanna died in 1915.  Shortly after that, the “four Mary’s searched the house to find and burn her witchcraft book, "Cyprianus", her Devils book.  Mary said, "In those days many believed in the supernatural and we were all afraid of her. 

back   Peter Boel
Aunt Hanna     Little Grandma at Church

When Raymond died a few years later he said, "Don't bury me in the Ever Green Cemetery with Aunt Hanna or I will come back and haunt you", he was buried as he wished in Spanish Fork.   Aunt Mary said, "Mother regretted this because she could walk down to Ever Green but not to Spanish Fork.  She also said, "Pa made sure that all Halverson's were buried in Spanish Fork". 

My Father, Harvey said, "I liked Aunt Hannea and got along with her".   Peter Boel bought a fancy horseless carriage and my dad was their chauffeur.  He took them where ever they went.  Christian's sister, Christiana Twede, her children and grandchildren said she was a nice person, active in church and community affairs.  Aunt Doris Halverson said, "One day I was talking to Irene Freeman, she said that when she was just a little girl, she loved to visit Aunt Hanna.  Hanna was just the sweetest little old lady". 

Aunt Mary said, “Grandpa was a rascal, mean and stingy."   While living in Denmark he learned to live with poverty.  His miserly ways made him rich while many of his neighbors were poor.

But my father said, "He worked and played hard, I couldn't keep up with him during the prime-time of my life and he was old".  He was always making and selling things.  He repaired clocks, I have the vice he held the little gears and teeth.  There were clocks hanging on every wall. 

One dark cold night my Grandmother Halverson woke up by a knock on the door. It was Grandpa Boel he may have been two sheets to the wind.  On 800 west he was close to his friends and booze.  He had a grand old time but when he got home Hanna took one look at him and locked the door.  By the time he walked 10 big city blocks in the black night he had sobered up and he was angry.  Oh Why!  Oh Why! Did I ever marry that woman when I had a better one right here?  

Grandpa Boil’s first home was at 980 W 1600 S in Mapleton on 20 acres of ground.  Over the years it became better and more productive.  Grandpa Boel was getting in his 60’s and was semi-retired.  Pierre ran the farm and was doing the blacksmithing.  Grandpa had had more free-time to visit and play and life was good.  Pierre had worked for his father for 34 years without pay and was promised the house and farm for this service.  Pierre had been sick a lot and had lost all his toes on one foot, caused by tuberculosis.  

One day Pierre fell in love with a pretty little girl from Georgia who came to Utah to marry a nice Mormon boy.  But when Pierre brought Molly McClain home to live things fell apart.  The Irish in Molly would not allow her to be bossed by an “Old Country Dane”.  She just packed up and went back to the family who brought her to Utah. 

To get Molly back Pierre had to get ownership of the farm and eventually he did.  Well Grandpa Boel drug his feet in transferring ownership.  He hadn’t been working and had to sell a few acres of the farm to build him a new house. 

Pierre did sell the prized farm and moved to Sutherland.  Grandpa knew that Pierre could never clear the farm of weeds, dig all the ditches and wells, build fences, a house, a barn and a hundred other things.

Houses

1^st 20 acre farm given to Pierre.

house for grandma

2^nd Grandpa bought a house and three acres of ground just south of his and gave it to his son, Jens.  He had given this house to help his son, Jens (James) who had lost his leg soon after his marriage

3^rd Then there was the Arron Johnson home that he bought and deeded to his Daughter Mary Halverson in 1911 to care for his first wife, Little Grandma. 

He built this new house next to his son, Jens and Mary Halvorsen Peterson on the 300 block on 8^th west in Mapleton.